EVERY DAY EXCEPT CHRISTMAS

[Music] happy thank you Bab good B than you good happy day how [Music] [Applause] [Music] take [Applause] [Applause] see walk do you want the walk the next yes [Applause] right you got those in there not lettu is for market for coven Garden lettu is in boxes mushrooms in baskets and the long boxes are for roses this goes on every night and it goes on all over England these roses and mushrooms grew on a Market Garden in Sussex Brian and Dennis take the lry up to London every night it's usually a couple of hours loading before the last mushroom basket is [Applause] by the time they're ready to go it's getting on for midnight we that's the end of the new summary now we say good night to listeners to the light program if you're working through the night or if you have to be up well we hope it'll be a quiet uneventful time for you but if you're going to bed now good night and sleep well all through the night through cities and Country towns and down the long arterial roads the lores are coming to London with apples from Kent and eam potatoes from nor or oranges and lemons from the Western ports all these roads lead to coven Garden [Music] [Applause] the middle of the night is the beginning of a new day for the night workers in the market sleep is over for them they've come in by car last trains and buses have brought them in to open up shop to start work on their displays [Music] [Music] all around the market the streets are staring the lwes that have come in earlier in the night begin to unload 22 large a lot of flowers have come in by air daffodil from the Channel Islands and enemies from France then come all the rest by trains and lorries from all over England Lincolnshire tulips primroses and violets from the woods in Cornwall roses and chrysanthemums in Long wooden boxes never mind stop there [Music] left [Music] [Music] this is the end of the journey the flowers have reached the address on the label and this is where Bill takes over bill is one of the night men on the flower stands he comes up from across the river at midnight or a bit after to start his day's work now the boxes must be got off the trolley and onto the shelves and checked and sorted all through the market displays are starting to grow you your I did it some people believe in getting right down to it others prefer to start with a cup of tea and a chat a cheerful way you got Parks they got the BR L yeah seran woken all the mainline stations all little stations aren't open the sections clear the signals are green all the way through mug I I'll tell you something else too that you don't bloody will know I don't G knows it what there's a record over the Great Western yeah forid the night has started quietly his big load is still on the way mostly mushrooms coming up from [Music] Sussex at halfast 1 or 2 with Dennis at the wheel Sid's mushrooms and a lot else as well pull into Cen Garden Round the market and up the [Music] yard come on come on out come on come on come on come on come on Dennis and Brian are glad to get to work again the sooner their load is off and delivered the sooner they can get home going post how he got yeah right that's you L what's the big SHO half 2 and Sid gets down to the job and out in the yard Dennis and Brian work steadily on towards bed packing their lettuces off around the market first the unloading and delivering then the long job of sorting and setting out for sale how much gear you had in tonight run not a lot only Mash no nothing else no no great still had a last night got a ton of grape in there though Haven you yeah that in last night no oranges again no suppose Denny's been idling about again we've had tons of celery out there yeah now what are you going to do about today you finished work you got a you call you exactly two Quin all around the market through the small hours displays take shape and grow and still the flowers roll [Music] in my daring gu [Music] [Music] and the and on the the UN i p small and up and down as SP word of in [Music] [Music] line motherinlaw [Music] um why don't you shut that power up why don't you turn in do you [Music] mind the sunin I where the garage is [Music] [Applause] green my room [Music] [Music] he [Music] e [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] halfast 4 in the morning and everything's ready everything's set in the flower market everything's here except the salesman and the customers another half hour to go before buying begins just one last load to get in Cup come on right how that [Music] good come on Jo after they've finished work the boys usually make for Alberts one of the cafes around the garden that's open all night to eat to eat your staring Albert's Cafe fills up towards morning with Porters and drivers from all around the market it's a regular meeting place for some of them where they can sit down for a chat and a cigarette and a cup of tea and maybe a bite to eat [Music] w [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] all [Music] not everyone you find in Albert's works in the market some of them you wonder where they come from they come in at 2 or 3 in the morning have a bite to eat talk for a bit then they go and you wonder where very ni I see I say see you ler play [Music] oh you mind keep with us [Music] I [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Applause] [Music] come on hold it daylight brings traffic back to the market lorries from farms and shops more vegetables to go out for sale down there [Music] mate these are the ordinary vegetables from the farms around London cabbages and potatoes and leaks and carrots fresh out of the earth yesterday [Music] fruit and vegetables start selling at 5 it's the early birds who get in first to catch the bargains serious business starts a little later this is the BBC Home Service good morning everybody the time is halfast 6 and today is Thursday [Music] [Applause] [Music] you Mr bis has been doing his rounds at the Garden every early morning for 30 years he comes in to buy fruit and vegetables for one of the big West End stores he knows where to find the bargains he knows what to watch out for [Music] run by 36 eggy F in the flower market the boys are busy again the salesmen are in and so are the customers and by 7:00 buying is brisk there's no shouting or loud bargaining everything friendly but people want what's best and they want it cheapest about ohello May about R for them Johny what no I think you better leave it let see if I can get some spray what about Dutch cars 20s in a bundle there's a 10 bber bundle 10 B bundle all right give us three of those pink red and white all right three four 5 6 7 8 nine n at four really and a few bu it it's as clever as your one is it it in or out I'll have it out please no leave it in leave [Music] [Applause] it people come to the market from the big stores and little shops and barrows some of them want cut flowers and some of them plants still growing they want to be sure they're fresh with plenty of life in them and they want them out and away and into the shops by night don't get a p up please right right with you that's very all right let's have that [Music] years ago all the porters in the flower market were women now there's only one of them left Alice has been on the job for 35 years and when she goes that's the end of it by 8:00 the movement in the flyer Market is steadily outwards [Music] n [Music] why [Music] go [Applause] the [Music] cafis are busy now all around the market with Cups of Tea and sandwiches for the buyers who have been on the go since 4:0 5 this morning cup of tea one tea har please would you like any sausage sandwich please [Music] roll pleas [Music] and two saus no mustard [Music] no what take that for no sugar in it now what youus by 10 or 10:30 the rush is over in the flow our Market people begin to relax George who came on at midnight can put his empty boxes away and Alice can get her weight off her feet for the boys who came on at midnight this is the end of the day for the others it's just a break then across to the shops for another 3 hours also late in the day when prices have fallen the old ladies come around who sell their flowers in the London streets but things aren't what they were light R in the supposed to get any easier they I mean you play One n and you ask him two bub for the I got to do these things I say they're changing the market to be alive ought to be alive 60 years ago I mean I all one they were FR in there you they'd be on the booze and then they wake up in after the next morning I'll in F that with a lovely box of roses lovely little short roses but not toight all these [Music] boys when Jenny started selling flowers on street corners Victoria was Queen and every gentleman wore a button hole but that was a long time [Music] ago by 11:00 there's nothing left except what other people don't want the fruit and flowers they've thrown away work has gone out to the streets around the market now where the big lorries are loading their caros for out of town [Music] everything that was sold in the early morning has to go out for loading and tomorrow's supplies are already coming in the lorries are going far around the country as far west as Wales and as far north as the Border they'll be leaving coven Garden all day and traveling on through the night some of them piled high with Freight and as heavy as they stand [Music] [Applause] so there it is and there's only 124 hours in the year when these streets are quiet people say the Market's changing and that's not surprising when you think it's been going on for 300 years but there's a lot that stays the same young faces follow old and old ways will change to new one of these days but work will still be with us one way or another and we all depend on each other's work as well as our own on Alice and George and Bill and Alan Sid and all the others who keep us going [Music] a [Applause] [Music] a